That's One Way of Meeting
by ReeseCrawford21
Summary: It is sometimes said good things can happen when you meet strangers. Elizabeth Berlin is a hunter, who keeps her past pretty much a secret, and her best friend who tags along on hunts with her, is the only other person she trusts. What she doesn't know is that her world is about to be flipped when the duo come across the Winchesters.
1. The Blond in the Booth

On a Sunday morning, the Winchesters pulled up to a restaurant just near the border of Nebraska and Kansas. They had spent the last three hours and a half tracking down and killing off yet _another_ vampires' nest.

They had gotten the case a little over forty-eight hours from Bobby, who was dying to get them out of his house for a while. A man in his early 30's showed up dead in a trash can, his body seemingly drained of blood.

So, naturally the two boys took the case, and wound up spending almost two days doing research, trying to find the nest, with no success, until they found a vampire out at night, and decided to follow it back to the nest, where the Winchesters proceeded to slice and behead at least nine vampires.

Their plan for that evening included having the famous Winchester victory dinner, or maybe that was more of Dean's plan, rather than Sam's, seeing as the eldest brother was starving the whole hour drive there.

Sam, on the other hand, planned on banging a girl or two before the two brothers hit the road again. He couldn't care less what he did to celebrate, after all, he was soulless, there wasn't much anyone could do...for now.

Once they neared the door to the restaurant, Dean reminded cautiously, "Act natural, don't be rude. And man, stop flirting with every girl that comes up to you!" Sam shrugged once, which caused Dean to glare at him with annoyance. Sam rolled his eyes before responding with, "Fine" as they entered the diner.

Dean muttered a "thank you" while fixing his eyes on the only open spot that so happened to be in a corner, where they wouldn't be disturbed. The only other issue was a woman, who sat across from them, but Dean was confident she wouldn't bother them, nor hear their conversation.

You would have to snap your fingers in front of her face to make her look up, seeing how intensely she was reading the book.

Without hesitation, the boys sat themselves into the booth, directly across from one another. When the red-haired, brown-eyed waitress made her way to them, Dean ordered a burger with fries, while Sam sat quietly checking out "Kate".

Dean noticed this, of course, how could he not notice? His brother had become a ladies' man within a year and a half and that made him slightly jealous, but concerned all the same.

He had to clear his throat, so the waitress would go away and prepare his victory dinner, after all, he was starving. Once she left, Dean gave Sam a look.

"What?" Sam asked, innocently, however he was anything but that at the current moment.

"Sam, I thought I told you-"

"Not to flirt with girls, yeah, I know. But you didn't say why I can't flirt with girls."

"Sam, because it's not…you. The old Sammy wouldn't have done that," Dean replied, getting upset with his brother.

"But I'm not the old Sam, Dean. You know that."

With an exasperated sigh, Dean rubbed his face and pulled out their dad's journal to look for something. Sam, bored as ever, decided to stare at the girl sitting in the booth across from them.

On the table sat a red mug with the words 'Love the food means love the cook' written along the cup, an empty plate and a couple of books on folklore and the book she was currently reading was titled, "Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore" by author Patricia Monaghan in pretty cursive lettering.

With a small scoff, Sam rolled his eyes, thinking this girl must be one of the many people who read what they didn't understand for fun or it was an easy book to read. He was tempted to make a remark, but a voice stopped him in his tracks before the sentence started.

"Smettere di guardare a me," the woman spoke.

"What?" Sam's eyes widened, not seeing that coming.

She put the book on the table and glared up at Sam, allowing him to take in her appearance. Beautiful golden bright blond locks framed her face while her peach-colored lips stayed in a straight line, unamused by his presence. Her eyes were her most striking feature though: bright, almost glowing, blue eyes. By her posture, Sam could tell she was petite, yet she knew how to handle herself in almost any situation.

"What is so interesting, hm?" she questioned with an annoyed tone.

Sam gave a small smirk as he leaned in more, and in return continued to get glaring daggers thrown at him. As if he could sense the tension between the two, Dean made a necessary interruption.

"Hey, Sam, could you check and see if my bag is in the car?" Dean asked his brother, rather quickly. This caused Sam to give a confused look to his brother, unsure of what he was trying to do, but Dean glared at him. With a roll of his eyes, Sam muttered "fine", before making his way out the diner and toward the Impala parked outside.

Dean turned back toward the woman, and apologized, "Ma'am, I'm sorry about him, he's just got a-uh- problem with the meds he's been takin'. Really sorry, he's honestly been like this for days now." The woman nodded saying, "Oh", as if she understood what he was going through. Dean threw an awkward smile as Sam re-entered the diner.

When Dean's food finally arrived, the woman got up to leave. What was curious was not the fact that she was leaving, but more of what she said as she was leaving. Dean could've sworn he had heard her say "idjits" under her breath as she passed by their booth and made her way to the door. He eventually shrugged it off, and went back to casually eating his meal without another word.

Little did Dean know that this would not be their last encounter.

* * *

AN: I honestly do not know if that's the correct way of how to say that in Italian, so if I offended anyone by saying the wrong thing, I'm super super sorry.

Smettere di guardare a me ~ Stop looking at me


	2. Luke Skywalker & Han Solo Wannabes

_**Muskogee, Oklahoma**_

 _"The address is 511 Baltimore Avenue."_

"Okay, and you're sure this is the right address?" the red-haired woman in the passenger seat questioned for the third time during the phone call.

"Yeah, we don't want this to end up like the last case!" the driver, a blond-haired, light blue-eyed woman called out.

"Yeah, remember when there was a poltergeist on 45th Street, and it turns out it was-"

"On 55th Street," the passenger and driver spoke together into the phone.

The driver added, "Or that time when we were supposedly hunting a shapeshifter..."

"And guess what it was?"

"A rugaru!" the two continued.

 _"Okay, okay, I get it!"_ the woman on the other end admitted. _"So sue me. I'm only human."_

"You know we love you, Lauren," the redhead replied with a smug grin.

 _"Yeah whatever April, bye,"_ Lauren said, hanging up.

The redhead, April, opened her mouth in mock shock as she put up her cellphone. "Well that was very rude of her, wasn't it Elle?"

"Indeed," the blond, Elle, responded as she chuckled.

* * *

 _ **Fayetteville, Arkansas**_

"You sure you're up to this, Sammy?"

"Dean, I'm fine."

Dean Winchester had asked his younger brother, Sam, the same question for the fifth time that day. They had about an hour until they reached their destination for the case Bobby offered them. Of course, Bobby Singer only did this to kick the boys out of his home, so he could have time to himself. Ever since, Death gave Sam's soul back, Dean had continuously worried for his brother breaking the wall the Horsemen put up inside Sam's head.

"Okay, fine. What's the case?" Dean inquired, looking over at the newspaper clipping Sam held on to.

"Get this," Sam began, as usual. "A fourteen-year-old girl was found in a tree in the forest a couple miles away from her house. The police claim it was a local named Paul Kinney."

Dean nodded his head. "Sounds like the cops have it covered, Sammy."

Sam sighed, before continuing, "However; a witness and Kinney's wife, both claim Paul wasn't anywhere near the crime scene."

"Alright, fine, maybe there is something."

"It's worth checking out, I mean, she _was_ found up in a tree," Sam stated. "Yeah, whatever," Dean answered, grumpily, before cranking up "Another One Bites the Dust" on the radio.

* * *

 _ **511 Baltimore Avenue, Muskogee, Oklahoma**_

Elle continued to keep her eyes on the road as she pulled up to the victim's road. She parked the sky blue 2007 Toyota Corolla on the side of the road, and grabbed her wallet to show off her "badge" to the victim's parents along with April.

"So what happened exactly?" Elle questioned her redheaded friend.

"Courtney Branson, found up in a tree in the woods. Police are claiming it's a local named Paul Kinney," April replied.

"In a tree?"

April nodded her head before ringing the doorbell. Tina Branson, the mother of the victim, opened up and allowed the two "FBI agents" inside to investigate.

"Do you know why your daughter was out in the woods to begin with?" April inquired Mrs. Branson, as the redhead sat next to her partner on the opposing couch the parents of the victim were on.

"Yes," the older woman responded, still a little shaken from the event. "She was supposed to meet up with her friends to do a bonfire out there, but no one showed up, so…she…" the woman trailed off, tears welling up again. Elle, sympathetically, stood from her spot on the couch, and handed the husband their card to call them.

"If you have any more information, please don't hesitate to call us," April stated as the two made their way to the door to leave.

Once the front door shut behind them, Elle sighed, causing her friend to look over at her.

"You okay?"

"No," Elle responded, looking around before saying, "Let's go." They made their way to the car, and drove around, trying to find a motel.

* * *

After driving for a while, the girls finally found a place to sleep for the night. While April grabbed the luggage from the trunk, Elle went inside the motel to check in. What the blond didn't expect was two familiar men checking into the same motel.

The man with dirty-blond hair she met at the diner, and the taller man with dark, long brown hair, who wouldn't stop looking at her as if she were a piece of meat. With wide eyes, she hid behind a wall to avoid them. When they went to their motel room, she rushed to the front desk, and quickly signed in for the night.

April, loaded down with two bags, made her way to the front when her friend jerked her arm and tugged her into the direction of their room. Once the girls were in room 116, Elle shut and locked the door, and yanked the curtains closed.

April set the bags down on one of the beds, and cocked her eyebrow at her friend.

"What was that all about?" she questioned, curiously with both hands on her hips.

Elle took a breath before she inquired, "You remember those two guys who came into that diner we were working undercover at a couple weeks back?"

"Luke Skywalker and Han Solo wannabes?"

"Yeah."

"What about them?" April shrugged.

"They just checked into _this_ motel," Elle stated.

There was a chirping silence before April asked, "…And?"

Elle rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Do you think it's coincidence that those two were at the diner after the vamp nest we were scouting out was completely demolished?"

"You think they're hunters." It wasn't a question, it was a statement, because April knew her friend all too well.

"I think they're hunters," Elle repeated.

* * *

"Why did I let you talk me into this?" Elle groaned as she and the redhead stood outside the men's hotel room.

The red gave her a toothy grin before replying with, "Because I'm your best friend, and you love me like that."

"Oh right, that," Elle simply said, knocking on the door at least three times.

Within five seconds, the girls had their guns out, ready for anything, and within another ten, the door opened, revealing the tall brunette with a hand behind his back, as well as the dirty-blond haired man beside him.

"Um, hi!" April said, rather cheerfully, putting her gun up instantly as Elle continued to point hers at the brunette.

"Hi," the shorter of the men answered as his partner questioned, "Who are you?"

"Not so fast, cowboy, you first," Elle avoided the question easily.

"We're hunters," April stated quickly to the boys.

Elle glared at her friend as if to say, "Really?" The red shrugged casually, and held up both hands in surrender as a way of saying, "I come in peace, please don't shoot me." Or at least that's what Elle thought her red-haired friend would say aloud.

The two men put their guns up, and held the door open more, but Elle seemed to hesitate a bit before April gave her a look. Reluctantly, the blond woman put up her gun and proceeded inside the hotel room of the hunters.

"Wait, aren't you the waitress from that diner back in Nebraska?" the blond man asked the two girls as soon as the door was shut, and the curtains were drawn closed. He pointed to the blond girl, "And you're that girl that was sitting in the booth."

"Yes," April responded with a cocky grin placing her face. "Now, who are you guys?"

"You first, sweetheart."

The redhead eagerly held out her hand, greeting, "April Mason." The man shook it, and looked over to the blond woman standing next to April.

"You first, cowboy," she stated bitterly, her eyes seemed to intensify as she glared at the giant in the room.

"Fine," the blond said. "I'm Dean," he pointed to himself before pointing to his partner, "and this is my brother, Sam."

"Winchester?" April inquired.

"Yeah," Sam answered.

"The same Winchesters that started the Apocalypse," April's partner stated.

"Yeah, that too," Dean shrugged.

"But don't forget," April threw in. "They saved the world afterward."

"Of course, how could we forget that," the blond said, shrugging simply. "Once they start a mess, they clean it up, right? So all's right in the world again."

"Okay, okay, we get it, you're pissed about us almost ending the world. Now can we please get your name, sweetheart?" Dean asked, trying to be as patient as possible with this girl.

"Elle Berlin," April answered for her friend.

"Elizabeth," the red's friend corrected harshly.

The two men looked between one another before focusing their attention back to the women in front of them.

"She's not having the best day," the red chuckled a little before questioning the men in the room."So are you two here for a case as well?"

"Yeah," Dean replied.

"Do you think we could work together?" April asked.

"No," Dean and Elle responded simultaneously.

Sam looked to his brother, and even pulled him aside in order to chat with him.

"Don't you think we should get a little extra help?" the tall brunette inquired, glancing at the girls standing by the door.

"No. Why?"

"Dean," Sam began. "We could use the extra help. We don't know what this is. I'll research with one of them, and you go out with the other one."

Dean gave his brother a glare as Sam said, "You know what I mean."

Sighing, Dean agreed, and the two turned around to face the two females in the room. "Alright, so we're willing to work with the two of you, if blondie's ok with it," Dean stated, pointing to Elle.

April gave her friend a pleading face before Elle finally caved in.

"Fine," Elle answered. "Where do we start?"


	3. Her Name Was Jessica

It hadn't even been an hour since the group of four hunters had begun researching before Dean claimed he knew what creature they were dealing with.

"A tulpa?" Elle questioned, unsure.

"Yeah! Listen, what if kids or adults, either or, made up a story about people dying in trees, because they wanted to scare locals or outsiders?"

"It does make a little bit of sense," April stated hesitantly.

Elle turned to her friend with an incredulous look, quietly hoping her partner wasn't agreeing with the older Winchester just because she's into him.

"I'm gonna have to agree with Elizabeth on this, Dean," the youngest Winchester said, noticing the blond's face scrunching up with uncertainty about the tulpa idea.

In all honesty, he wasn't quite sure why he agreed with her on the subject. Usually he would go all in with Dean, but something seemed off about the whole case, and now that they had two other hunters with them, the hunt looked a lot more complicated than they originally thought.

There was also something about the woman beside him that made him rethink certain cases and how he and his brother could have handled them. She seemed smart as well as trained into the hunter life, which means she knew how to take care of herself and supernatural creatures just fine. However, no ordinary person would get _that_ kind of vibe from the 5'2" blond-haired, blue-eyed woman sitting next to him.

Elle turned once more, this time to the brunette male next to her, wondering if he actually _did_ agree with her.

"What?" she questioned as Dean's green eyes widened in surprise.

Sam defended, "I don't think we have enough evidence to prove that it's actually a tulpa is all I'm saying."

"Fine, Sam," Dean said in frustration that this case was longer than expected. "What do you suggest we do then?"

"Here's a suggestion for ya, Rose Nyland: How about we ask around town about those woods, and Paul Kinney?"

Dean glared at Elle darkly before muttering through his teeth, "You did not just make a Golden Girls reference."

Elle stood and smirked, grabbing her jacket from the couch, asking, "So, who wants to come with me to talk to Paul Kinney?"

April opened her mouth, but quickly shut it as soon as Sam got out the words, "I" and "will". He, too, was up, shrugging on his jacket, and out the door with Elle before April and Dean could say anything more over the subject.

"Guess we're partners then," April stated to Dean, who continued to look at the door in surprise.

* * *

"So what's blondie's deal anyway, huh?" Dean inquired to the red as they walked through the small town.

They had already talked to several people about the woods. The only thing they discovered was that it was the place for a bonfire, and that Mr. Branson, the victim's father, was a contractor for building houses around the town, which means the next spot for a neighborhood is rumored to be the forest.

"What do you mean 'her deal'?" April questioned back, slightly offended by his tone.

"I mean, why does she not like Sam and I?"

"Oh, that. Well, she, um, doesn't trust other hunters, I guess?"

"You guess? Thought you were her best friend?" Dean asked as they made their way to a diner.

"Yeah," April answered. "But that doesn't mean she'll tell me everything about her."

He kindly opened up the door to the diner for her, and entered behind her before resuming the conversation.

"Isn't that what a best friend is for though?" Dean continued.

"Partly," the redhead explained, settling down into a booth next to the window. "The thing about our friendship is that it's more of moral support, partners in hunting, and sistership. It's not really a 'Hey, let me tell you my life's story and you tell me yours.' We're there for each other, and if she ever wants to talk about herself, then I'm totally open. I'd be stupid to force her to tell me."

"So in other words you have no clue why she doesn't like us?"

"Basically, yeah."

* * *

"Mr. Kinney, we have a few questions for you if you don't mind," Elle stated, showing her badge and ID to the older man as did Sam.

"Of course," Paul Kinney said, opening the door more, and leading them into the living room to sit.

"Have you heard about Courtney Branson?" Sam quizzed instantly as he and Elle sat on the love-seat across from Paul.

"Yes, a tragedy. That girl shouldn't have been in the forest that late at night, you don't know...what...could happen," he said, hesitancy mixed with his tone.

"Mr. Kinney?" Elle questioned, leaning forward a bit. "Please tell us about the forest. Is something living there that we should know about?"

The greying man looked to the floor for a while as if trying to recall something. "There was this...girl. She was beautiful in every way, and she loved to play in forest. She would invite me to climb trees with her. When I was younger..."

"What was her name, sir?" Sam inquired a little too fast, while Elle shot him a look that screamed 'shut up!'.

"Ever-Evelyn...Evelyn Green," Mr. Kinney answered before chuckling softly. "She always wanted to be called Evergreen, so I nicknamed her that. Heh, funny girl she was."

"Have you seen her recently?" Elle asked gently.

"...N-No ma'am," the man replied, somewhat sad. "I-I haven't seen her in a long time. The last time I saw her was when my father was trying to cut down that specific tree fo-for something, but I stopped him and so did Evelyn. We talked him out of it."

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Kinney," Elle thanked the old man with a kind smile before she and Sam made their way out of the house.

"So, what do you think? Ghost maybe?"

"Ghosts have motivations to do something, but the girl he was talking about liked trees, so much so that he gave her the nickname Evergreen. Something feels off about this," Elle responded as they headed back to the Impala.

"How so?" Sam asked her.

"Well for one, he was lying about not seeing her," she replied.

"How do you know that?" Sam inquired as he unlocked the Impala.

"He paused before answering, and he kept stammering while telling the story of how he and Evelyn talked his dad out of cutting down that tree," Elle explained.

"Wow, you got all that from him?"

"Didn't you?" Elle quizzed back, climbing into the car, and shutting the passenger door.

As Sam started up the car, he glanced at the blond, who was now deep in thought over something. In order to begin a conversation, he questioned, "So, why don't you like working with other hunters?"

Elle shook herself out of her thoughts, and turned to him with a quizzing look on her face. "Who said I don't like working with them?"

"You technically didn't have to," Sam chuckled. "It was practically written on your face when you met me and Dean."

"Oh," Elle blushed a bit. "I was raised differently than the majority of hunters. I guess that's part of it."

"Why?" Sam asked, not quite sure why she told him that. She had no obligation to tell him anything, so why did she?

"Uh-um," she stuttered, not yet ready to tell anyone her story.

"It-it's okay. You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. No pressure," Sam explained.

"Sorry," Elle apologized. "I just...don't feel comfortable enough to share my life with a stranger that's all."

"I get that, I really do." He gave her a small smile and a look with his hazel eyes that said he wouldn't push any further.

"So what about you? How long have you been hunting with your brother?"

"Uh, a while now actually. I used to hunt with him and my dad when I was younger before I stopped. Then I came back about six years ago."

"What made you stop in the first place?" Elle questioned before holding a hand up with a small smile. "Sorry, you don't have to answer. It's none of my business."

"It's fine. Talking about it doesn't hurt. I actually stopped, because I went to college."

Elle's eyes widened and her eyebrows raised, impressed by the thought of another hunter going to college. It wasn't like it couldn't be done, but then again she sort of pegged Sam to be the type that went to college as soon as she met him. Or at least one of the few hunters who went to school and actually gave a crap about their education.

"Where'd you go?"

"Stanford," Sam replied.

"Wow, that's a good school to get into."

"Yeah," Sam paused, keeping his eyes fixed on the road. "It was...great."

"Had a girlfriend, huh?" Elle smirked, knowing he meant someone instead of an 'it'.

"What?" he turned to her almost immediately.

"What's her name?"

"Oh, um...Jessica. Her name was Jessica," he said, absentmindedly.

Elle instantly dropped the subject as soon as the _'was'_ popped up, and all she could think was _'poor Sam'_.

* * *

The rest of the trip was made in silence, besides the radio playing softly as they drove back into town to meet up with Dean and April.

Elle's phone suddenly began to sing "Sunday Bloody Sunday" signaling the blond that her friend was calling.

 _"Where are you?"_

"Hey April, nice to hear from you too," Elle smiled, glancing at Sam as he chuckled.

 _"We're at a diner right across the street from the hardware store or...is that a drugstore?"_ At the last part she covered up the mic on her phone to talk to Dean.

Another voice, more than likely Dean, quietly answered, _"It's a hardware store."_

 _"Okay yeah we're across the hardware store in town,"_ April came back at full volume.

"Kay, we're just about there."

 _"See ya!"_

Elle chuckled as she hung up.

"She's got a fun personality, doesn't she?" Sam said.

"Oh you have no idea."

* * *

"What've you guys got?" April inquired as soon as Sam and Elle joined her and Dean at the booth.

"Paul Kinney said there was a girl he used to hang out with in the woods. They'd climb trees and stuff," Sam stated.

"What was this chick's name?" Dean asked through a mouthful of burger, which made Elle a little sick to her stomach.

"Evelyn Green."

"Alright, how 'bout me and blondie go check out the archives for this so called Evelyn Green, and you and Red go search the graveyard," Dean suggested, but Elle quickly gave Sam a look saying 'Do I really have to go with him?'.

Sam offered an alternative, knowing his brother hated researching, "Or how about you and April go search the graveyard and Elle and I go research instead."

Dean shrugged in agreement while April hid her apparent smile.

"For now though, how about we go back to the motel and get a goodnight's sleep." Elle said.

Nodding their heads in agreement, the four eventually found themselves back at the motel, going into their own rooms to turn in.

"Night Elle," Sam said, before closing his and Dean's motel room door.

"Goodnight Sam."


End file.
